Jason Brodeur continues to lead Central Florida state Senate candidates in fundraising

Republican state Rep. Jason Brodeur continued to lead all Central Florida state candidates in campaign fundraising in December, bringing in more than $21,000 for his official, 2020 campaign for the Florida Senate, and another $59,000 for his unofficial Friends of Jason Brodeur political committee.

Brodeur’s hauls bring his official fund to about $217,000 raised, with $141,000 left in the bank at the end of December; and Friends of Jason Brodeur to nearly $1.20 million raised and approximately $353,500 in the bank.

Brodeur, who is finishing a final term representing Florida’s House District 28, isn’t running for anything until 2020 when Senate District 9 becomes available. He does have an opponent, Frederick Ashby, an Oviedo Democrat who did not report any campaign finance activity in December. Ashby’s state senate campaign had about $300 in it at the end of the year.

Republican state Sen. Dennis Baxley of Ocala raised $16,000 in December, bringing his re-election bid’s fundraising total to $87,850 for Florida Senate District 12. His campaign also spent about $9,100 in December, so he finished the year with nearly $62,404 in his campaign fund.

Baxley has two opponents. Republican primary challenger Kaesha Gray of Ocala lent her campaign $1,000 in December. Democrat Gary McKechnie of Mount Dora raised $850 in December. Both finished the year with around $1,000 left.

Republican state Sen. Kelli Stargel of Lakeland reported raising $8,000 in December toward her re-election bid in Senate District 22. That brought her total raised to about $132,000 and left her with about $105,000 in the bank at the end of December.

Her opponent Democratic challenger Bob Doyel of Winter Garden reported raising $1,722 in December. He’s raised $12,262 total and finished the year with about $7,000 in the bank.

In Senate District 14, Republican state Sen. Dorothy Hukill of Port Orange reported raising $7,100, putting the total raised for her re-election effort to $106,200. She finished December with about $74,000 in the bank.

Her opponent Democrat Melissa Martin of Cocoa reported raising $1,464 in December. She has raised $12,673 total and finished the year with just over $11,000 left in the bank.

Among races that, like Brodeur’s still are more than two years away, Democratic state Sen. Randolph Bracy of Ocoee, reported raising $7,500 in December, leaving him with about $13,000 in the bank for his re-election bid in Senate District 11. Democratic state Sen. Linda Stewart of Orlando reported raising $2,060 in December, leaving her with about $2,000 in the bank in her bid for re-election in Senate District 13. Democratic state Sen. Victor Torres of Orlando reported raising $5,250 in December, leaving him with about $26,700 in his re-election bid in Senate District 15. None of them has an opponent yet.

Scott Powers is an Orlando-based political journalist with 30+ years’ experience, mostly at newspapers such as the Orlando Sentinel and the Columbus Dispatch. He covers local, state and federal politics and space news across much of Central Florida. His career earned numerous journalism awards for stories ranging from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster to presidential elections to misplaced nuclear waste. He and his wife Connie have three grown children. Besides them, he’s into mystery and suspense books and movies, rock, blues, basketball, baseball, writing unpublished novels, and being amused. Email him at scott@floridapolitics.com.

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